OPERATING SESSION 96

It seems a bit hard to believe, but I am closing in on hosting a hundred operating sessions on my railroad.  As I do so, the itch to change eras has gotten very strong.  As seen in a couple of the preceding blogposts this year, I have been making moves toward a major back-date of the equipment on the railroad.  With my usual July break in operations coming, the time to end the current operating era is almost here.  

 

Operating Session 96 was conducted this weekend.  It will be one of the last in gray and scarlet locomotive paint, at least for some time.  Two of my close friends from my Californian days elected to drive up to participate in this session.  Wayne C. has operated a couple of times.  Dave S. was new to the railroad.  Indeed, it has been a long time since I last saw him, but I was delighted he made the effort to see and participate in what I have assembled and participate in a regular operating session.

 

This session began, as usual, where the previous session left off.  We had four road freights out on the line and the Oakridge Turn finishing up work in Oakridge before returning to Eugene via Westfir.  Follow along with the photos to get a bit of the flavor of a typical operating session as they have been for the past eleven years.

 

The session began with trains at Wicopee and Cruzatte plus Oakridge.  Here, Dave S. (right) serves as engineer on the RR-West train that began in Wicopee (lower level) and is now climbing into Cruzatte as it crosses Nosis Creek Trestle and traverses Tunnel 10.  Rodger C. (center serves as Dave’s conductor and local mentor.  Pat L. (left) watches the train cross Noisy Creek Trestle as he controls the mid-train helper.

 

Wayne C. is seen at Montieth (aka, Rooster) Rock with his RR-East train drifting downhill.

 

Pete H. (center) and Jeroen G. (right)discuss switching strategy as they work with the Marcola Turn.   While the transfer of a long cut of cars to Weyerhaueser is relatively easy, the other switching, such as Neste Resins (left) requires some strategy.  In the background we see Wayne C. with his RR-East train rounding the curve at Westfir.  Above, to the right, Mike W. brings his RR-West train into Wicopee.

 

Earlier, Mike W. (left) was down in McCredie Springs with his helper engineer Mike L. watching their train climb through this first siding (on the modeled RR) above Oakridge.

 

Jeff S. (right) and Rob S. (center) worked the Oakridge Turn.  Here they are switching the Western Lumber mill at Westfir on their way back to Eugene.  Their SD9 locomotives are the only motive power currently on the railroad that will survive the era shift back into the 1950s.  They have been a paint and detail anachronism for 1984, but they will be right at home in 1958.

 

At a different time in the session, regular crew member (one of the original operators on the railroad) Mike B. works his RR-East train past Westfir.  Pat L, working as a helper engineer is in the background, likely with his power either helping uphill or drifting back to Oakridge on the mountain grade part of the railroad.

 

Keith K. (center-right) worked as the East Switcher for the Eugene Yard.  Mike L. (green shirt, center) took his usual position as the Eugene City Switcher, seen here working the industry spurs in the pass-through area between the Eugene Yard and depot and the Arrival-Departure Yard in the back room.  Mark K. (black shirt, left) served as the switcher for the Arrival-Departure Yard.

 

Early in the session, A-D Yardmaster Randall P. (left) and A-D Switcher Mark K (right—looking at something overhead in Crescent Lake at the top of the modeled railroad) are sorting through the work in the Arrival-Departure Yard.

 

Loren M. served as Dispatcher for the session.  He filled the Dispatcher’s Block Authority Sheet over the course of the session.  He kept the traffic moving and all trains moved that were on the line-up—a major success!

 

Although a few minor glitches show up—they always seem to—the railroad ran well.  The experienced crew moved the traffic and completed a twelve fast-hour line-up.  I am happy to be closing out this part of the life of my railroad with a mature operating scheme and mostly cooperative equipment.  The planned era and equipment shift will introduce all sorts of chaos, but resolving that chaos will be a fun challenge.